What is it about the weekends that seem to make them disappear so quickly? And what about the week makes it seem so long before the next weekend shows up? I've been thinking a lot lately about making my days count. A huge subject to tackle, at least in my life. Sometimes I think I just chug along, going from one thing to the next, without really being present. There is a lot going on right now, a lot on my plate again and I catch myself not being in the moment. I'm going through the motions but my mind is elsewhere. On that book I need to finish for a review, on those list of people that need phoning, on the fact that I keep forgetting to get in touch with my Dad until it's well past his bedtime. Etc., etc. And on and on it goes. It's no wonder the days drag on and I couldn't tell you what was going on.
So I gave myself a good talking to this weekend. It's September now and no more lazy, hazy days of summer excuses. I need to pull up my bootstraps and start to live my days a little more intentionally. More purposefully. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to start filling up and scheduling my every waking moment with things to do. But it does mean that when I am in the midst of something, I'm going to make a point of focusing rather than multi tasking on the fly.
To do that I've bought myself a pretty little journal at a discount store and I'm leaving it open on the counter. If I think of something, I'm jotting it down right away, getting it out of my head, and then getting back on task, back into the moment. It's going to serve as a brain dump, if you will, so that I can get the clutter out of my head, and just be. Then when whatever is in the moment is done, and I have a minute I can go look and take that next moment to call my dad, to sit with my girl, to read that chapter without a bunch of other stuff swirling and colliding in my brain.
Hopefully this will help to get rid of the tyranny of the urgent and the undone and cause me to just abide in what God has given me for that moment. How do you guys live purposefully and in your moments?
10 comments:
That's a great idea Susanne. Anything to help the brain out like that is good. I hear what you are saying here and I'd like to live in the moment, too. Blessings...
This is a struggle for me, too. And yet here I am at almost noon reading blogs of women who are accomplishing things....Just read Ann Voskamp's blog about being alive in the moment ...every breath a God-breathed YHWH http://www.aholyexperience.com/
Today I am committed to cleaning out a storage/crafts room. A friend who is holding me accountable (at my request)is coming tomorrow to check on it. But my daughter just called asking me to meet her for lunch and it's rare so of course I said 'yes'...That's what happens with my intentions.
Let me know if your new plan helps.
Well since I teach every day until 12:30 pm, I find that I have to keep a daytimer and a journal. The journal is for me to stay in touch with what God is showing me, blessing me with, etc. I call it my treasures from God book and I also have a label up on the blog with that title for when i have 15 min to write. I got the idea of the journal from the author of One Thousand Gifts (Holy Experience blog). And i only allow my self a limited time on FB now and in reading blogs. I try to pray while doing housework around the home i the afternoons..it keeps me focused on the greater good! :)
Hollace: I think it's perfectly okay to sit and read some blogs. But my mind would be reading and thinking of other things too at a hundred miles an hour. If I'm going taking the time to read blogs I want to be in that moment and focus on what those ladies would have to say instead of just going through the motions of reading and then not being able to tell you anything about what I just read. That is when it becomes a waste of time for me and then what is the point. I want to enjoy and experience and interact with the moments God gives me, be present with what I am doing instead of constantly in a bunch of brain clutter and a whirlwind of activity.
Faith: I limit my online activities too. It's very easy to be swept away. But I think I need this journal not as one more thing to do but to be able get rid of the constant brain clutter that is happening with me, so that I might totally give myself to whatever I am doing at the moment whether it be reading a blog or two, playing with the kids, making dinner, studying or even just reading a book. Then I can return and focus on the next thing rather than having it all swirling at once.
And btw, I think while vacuuming is the perfect time to pray as is while ironing. :v)
That's a good idea. I jot things down on post-it notes but it's not perfect.
I like the idea of your "brain dump". Perhaps I need something similar to end some of the constant sense of chaos that seems to be swirling in mine.
What a terrific idea! You'll have to report back on how it worked for you, helping you to stay focused.
I find I can concentrate on what's at hand when I keep lists to "park" the ideas that keep running through my head. I've also learned to break projects down into small pieces. In fact, do the same with my to-do list for the day. Keep it short and manageable. Then I can focus on what's in front of me rather than anticipating the next step of a project, will I get to it today? Or if my to do list for the day is sooo long, I get overwhelmed. I used to be able to accomplish so much more in a day. Maybe it's A-G-E, but I find I just can't do as much anymore.
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